How Oren Loni Discusses Spiderman’s Super Powers and How Spiderman: Homecoming Handled Them

One of the things that really bothered Oren Loni about Spiderman: Homecoming was that the movie really didn’t do much to show people who aren’t familiar with the character (which, let’s be honest, is most of them. Comic books happens to be an under-appreciated genre) what special powers he had. Sure they know he can crawl up the side of the Washington Monument and that’s he agile and smart mouthed, but otherwise the movie gave the impression that he wasn’t much without his suit.

In reality, that radioactive spider bite had a pretty profound effect of Peter Parker’s life and left him with an assortment of enviable skills.

Oren Loni Examines Spiderman’s Superhero Speed

Okay, so he’s not as fast as The Flash or even Superman, but since those characters belong in the DC universe, that’s okay. By Marvel standards, Spiderman is one of the quicker superheroes. Provided there’s some distance between him and the person holding the gun, he’s capable of dodging bullets and dodging blows. I didn’t feel the movie did a good job at showing just how quickly Spiderman moved, and it’s something that could have been done easily enough be showing Peter Parker using his spider quick reflexes to catch a falling object.

Spiderman’s Superhero Strength

If we’re talking the Avengers, Spiderman can’t out bench press the Hulk, and I think that both Captain America and Thor are also stronger than he is, but he’s no weakling. You don’t want to challenge him to an arm wrestling match. If my memory serves correctly, that infamous spider’s bite left Spiderman with the ability to lift something like 10 tons. It’s a handy skill when you’re constantly trying to save people from falling debris after you’ve completely destroyed NYC for about the 5th or 6th time in a row.

I didn’t feel that the movie even attempted to show fans just how strong the webslinger really is or what that strength lets him accomplish. They were a bit to focused on comedy. Which is fine, but a little heavy lifting wouldn’t have gone amiss.

Spiderman’s Superhero Grip

Technically, I suppose super grip and super strength go hand in hand, but in the comic books, his grip always comes across as something separate from the strength, and rightfully so. It’s this special gripping power that lets him hang off sheer walls and other surfaces, a truly useful skill when spying on a coven of super villains. In my mind, this is the one Spiderman superpower the movie did manage to convey, though I can’t help thinking it would have been cool if they’d showed him cracking walnuts with his bare hands. I’ve always thought that if done correctly, super grip could lead to some pretty funny moments, especially when he’s just plain old Peter Parker.

Spiderman’s Superhero Spidey Sense

There’s a reason everyone always talks about Spidey senses, it’s because this is, hands down, one of Spiderman’s most amazing superpowers.

Spiderman has the strongest intuition. Whether he just senses things coming his ways or he picks up on subtle clues and processes them at an amazing speed has never been clear, but he uses the skill to get out of trouble and keep fighting, even when he should be down and out. Without his trusty Spidey-senses, Spiderman would have died a long, long time ago.

Spiderman uses his Spidey senses to:

Locate hidden weapons

Predict life threatening situations

Dodge things like bullets, knives, thrown cars, etc.

Work his way out of traps

My biggest pet peeve is that the movie gave the impression that instead of Spidey senses, Spiderman relied on a really cool suit.

What’s your favorite Spiderman superpower? Do you think the movie should have done a better job showcasing the powers?